Main menu

Heartland Tech Weekly: ‘The world of software jobs is flattening’

Today’s report about a 6.7 percent drop in software-related job postings over the past five years for San Jose, California should surprise no one. This shift is consistent with two themes that we’ve reported on and points to a tipping point. Have we reached “peak” Silicon Valley?

First, the cost of doing business — from wages, to rents, to costs, is much higher in Silicon Valley and other established tech centers than across the rest of America.

Second, as one industry after the next continues to embrace new technologies, every company becomes a “tech” company. Or maybe they always were, but just not in the strictest sense of the word. Certainly a 100 year-old business like Parker-Hannifin is arguably just as innovative, or more so, than many Silicon Valley companies.

“Although Silicon Valley will almost certainly remain among the nation’s top tech hubs for decades to come, the world of software jobs is flattening — both by industry and geography,” writes Richard Chamberlain, chief economist at Glassdoor. “The big winners in coming years are likely to be the lower-cost U.S. metros with fast-growing tech clusters that have attracted a rising share of software job postings in recent years.”

FROM THE HEARTLAND TECH CHANNEL

Silicon Valley’s share of software jobs falls as new tech hubs rise

New software jobs are being created outside Silicon Valley and other tech centers faster than ever. Over the past five years, cities like Seattle, D.C., Detroit, and Austin, among others, have all seen rapid growth in software-related job openings, according to a new report from online job site Glassdoor. Meanwhile, San Jose, California’s share of all […]

Each week, I check in with Travis McCleery, who leads product design for Root, an insurance company that uses data collected from drivers’ smartphones to more fairly price and sell auto insurance. Today, our conversation was about engaging specific designers that work for Silicon Valley tech companies, have Midwest roots, and are ready to move back. […]

Read the full story

5 groups push to increase diversity among Texas startups

Entrepreneurs and investors often lament the lack of diversity in tech in Texas. But a few organizations, and people, are going beyond just talk and are actively working to better even the playing field for underrepresented entrepreneurs. For this piece, Crunchbase News spoke with several Texas-based groups about their efforts to promote diversity in technology […]

Read the full story

Silicon Valley tech firms power job growth in the hinterlands

The growth speaks for itself. The concentration of tech talent in Madison, Wisconsin increased by more than 30 percent over the past two years. In Fort Lauderdale, Kansas City (Missouri), Miami, and Salt Lake City, there were gains of more than 20 percent. Oh, and Omaha, Pittsburgh, and Columbus, Ohio? They each registered rises of […]

Read the full story

Beyond VB

Pittsburgh reimagines the business district

Much like it reinvented itself after the collapse of the steel industry and the decline of coal, in many ways, Pittsburgh has re-imagined the traditional business district. While there are still business hubs geographically concentrated in some of the city’s neighborhoods, they’ve been joined in recent years by a swath of incubators and co-working spaces that have allowed a wide variety of tech startups to get off the ground in the Steel City. (via Crain’s)

Read the full story

Report: Michigan no longer a flyover state for venture capital

While Michigan has become a hot spot for startup funding, Detroit has been boiling in recent years, according to a new Michigan Venture Capital Association study. The 2017 Detroit Entrepreneurial Study revealed Detroit’s startup community has grown 50 percent in the past three years, now making up a quarter of the state’s fledging companies. Last year, 14 of the city’s 35 startup companies attracted more than $62 million in seed investment, the study found. (via Crain’s Detroit Business)

Read the full story

Tech jobs are spreading to other parts of the country

When we think of tech, we think Silicon Valley. But that could change. Places like Omaha, Nebraska and Philadelphia are becoming promising areas for startups to develop and grow. In this series, we’re looking for cities that might become home to the next big thing. (via Marketplace)

Read the full story

Lonely Photos of Daily Life in the Rust Belt

Greek photographer Niko J. Kallianiotis’s earliest memory of America is from Astoria, Queens, where he witnessed the shocking dichotomy between big-city affluence and homelessness. When his father moved to Scranton, Pennsylvania, in the early 1990s, his mother remained in Athens, and he traveled back and forth. “I was caught between two cultures and countries,” he said. His search for his own identity began here in his late teens.